Purpose is key to employee engagement
To manage these changes successfully, companies must be willing to adopt new strategies, and Sandhir is emphatic that defining and communicating a sense of purpose is key. He says, “Purpose has become one of the key attributes that a millennial will look for when they’re looking for a job. It's more important than ever that a company really focuses on what is their mission, their vision and their values.”
Valerie Keller, EY Beacon Institute Global Leader, agrees, saying that purpose is a critical component of employee engagement: “Those organizations that are able to harness purpose are the ones that are able to attract and retain talent. They’re the ones that can connect with customers in a completely different way, which is so important in the age of choice. And those organizations that are signing up to a bigger, higher purpose are able to have greater resiliency as well.”
EY alumna and HighGround CTO Anjoo Rai-Marchant points out that if companies are able to keep their workforce engaged, it will inevitably lead to further growth: “Companies that have an engaged workforce see an increase in profitability, an increase in customer satisfaction and reduced employee turnover. All three impact the bottom line for an organization.”
A coach not a boss
Rai-Marchant is calling for companies to be willing to completely change their approach to management, “We’re almost doing a 180 about-face of everything we’ve known so far about how to manage teams or employees in the workforce. Traditionally, it was a typical top-down type of management, almost like a parent-child relationship, and what we’re starting to see is much more peer-to-peer type interaction.”
She believes this is a significant shift and requires a different way of operating and managing employees. While millennials are driving this change, she points out that all generations are now looking for a more collaborative approach in the workplace and prefer a coach to a boss — someone who is there to mentor and encourage them.
As Keller says, “Companies are looking to connect with their employees and their customers in new and different ways, and they need the ability to reinvent themselves to be relevant.”
Factor in feedback
Another change defining the future workforce is the need for real-time feedback, transparency and clear goals. Employees today want to feel recognized and valued throughout the year, not just during their annual review. And they want to hear how their work is directly contributing to the success of an organization. Rai-Marchant says, “They want to hear about their strengths, instead of having their weaknesses highlighted. I think what is going to continue as we look ahead is people are looking for meaning in their lives. It's not that people aren’t looking to work, they’re looking to have a sense of purpose.”
HighGround’s software reflects this shift through its “recognition platform” which enables employees and clients to provide direct feedback, giving managers a clear view of how everyone is performing within the organization.
Sandhir is excited about the future and creating a platform that puts the employee first. By 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be comprised of millennials. By helping companies define their culture and purpose, HighGround’s technology creates a level of employee engagement that not only enables companies to attract and retain top talent, but also drive performance in today’s ever-challenging global marketplace.
Summary
By defining their culture and purpose, companies can attract and retain top talent, as well as drive performance in the marketplace.